New York|Under Cover, Minors Buy Alcohol at Many Stores in New York City

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Under Cover, Minors Buy Alcohol at Many Stores in New York City

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Under-age buyers went to 911 stores across New York City between April and September last year and were able to get alcohol at 58 percent of the businesses, the health department said.CreditCreditOzier Muhammad/The New York Times

By The Associated Press

May 3, 2015

Under-age decoy buyers were able to purchase alcohol at more than half of the hundreds of pharmacies, grocery stores and liquor stores in New York City that the State Liquor Authority targeted in an undercover investigation last year, officials said on Sunday.

As part of the investigation, the buyers went to 911 stores across the city between April and September, about 10 percent of the city stores that have liquor licenses. They were able to get alcohol at 58 percent of the businesses, the city’s health department said.

The health commissioner, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, said the department would take steps to reduce under-age alcohol consumption. A letter was to be sent on Monday to all stores that sell alcohol reminding them to check identification and to make sure employees are trained to avoid selling to people younger than 21. The department has also translated the Liquor Authority’s handbook for stores into Arabic and Chinese, the most requested languages.

The department said it would sponsor training for stores in the next few months that would help with things like recognizing fake identification.

A store that sells alcohol to a minor faces penalties of $2,500 for a first-time offense, and up to $10,000 for repeat violations as well as license suspensions or revocations. The investigation found that stores that had recent violations were less likely to sell to minors.

The Liquor Authority’s investigation was paid for by a grant from the health department.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Under Cover, Minors Buy Alcohol at Many Stores in City. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe